Dear Pat:

Is soymilk better for you than regular milk? Thanks,
Susan

Dear Susan:

That is an excellent question. Like milk, soy is a great source of protein and can easily be found with added calcium. But drinking soymilk has the following advantages:

• Soymilk is cholesterol free.
• It contains cancer-fighting isoflavones.
• It is readily available from organic sources (containing no pesticides).
• Soybeans grow abundantly and actually replenish the soil they grow in.

Cow's milk (unless you always buy organic) contains pesticides from the feed as well as antibiotics. Those additional substances, not naturally found in milk, are added by the dairy farmers and can be harmful to humans, even in small quantities. The use of cow's milk also has ecological disadvantages. The amount of soy that could be grown on acreage used by grazing cattle could feed more people than the cows do.

Thanks,

Patricia Greenberg, B.A., Nutrition